Only heard of Chongqing because we’ve moved there? Here’s 8 things we want you to know

It’s been one of the most exciting and challenging months of our lives. Relocating, a new language, new friends, a new rhythm, a new routine. But we made it to the one month mark, and are loving every experience. For those of you who have only ever heard of Chongqing because we’ve moved here, here’s eight things - because eight is a lucky number in China - that we’ve learned so far:

1. Chongqing’s landscape is stunningly unique

A city built in and around mountains makes Chongqing one of China’s most interesting cities and it’s often compared to Hong Kong thanks to its similar topography. Its lumps and bumps make journeys via road windy and traffic-heavy at times, especially at rush hour, and our 1km walk from home to the centre of town is mostly stairs, hills and a 10p trip in an external lift to avoid the last 200 steps (fun fact: from our apartment to Ash’s office in central CQ is apparently the equivalent of 11 storeys). Chengdu, Chongqing’s nearest big city neighbour 300km away, makes Chongqing’s unique character even more stark, with its flat geography and big, wide streets.

The downtown area of Chongqing sits in between the famous Yangtze and Jialing rivers, which meet at an area called Chaotienman. This makes navigating using the river as your point of reference tricky for newcomers, but makes for some spectacular views from all around both day and night. The mountains mean there are viewpoints wherever you go, and Chonging’s millions of malls provide some great views over the peninsula. Boat rides circulate the rivers’ meeting point and show off the city’s incredible views all day, every day.

2. It’s noisy - both aurally and visually

Cars honking, people spitting, shop tannoys blaring, music coming from everywhere. Flashing lights and animations on all buildings and bridges, colourful, bold and bright adverts everywhere, Chinese characters all around (obviously). It is a brand new experience, and you have to get used to getting no peace and quiet. The roads are terrifying at the beginning, with seemingly no right-of-way rules and lots of swerving, but - and trust me on this one - if you step out into the road, they will stop for you to cross. If in doubt, stand behind a local - they’ve got it nailed.

Chongqing’s night views are even more stunning, with Chongqing’s 45+ bridges lighting up and animations dancing across all the skyscrapers. Any new, yet-to-be-lit-up buildings or dark freight ships sailing down the rivers look eerie against the brightly illuminated backdrop. Note to self: learn how to take non-blurry night photos on the DSLR.

3. It’s absurdly cheap

A journey on the underground costs roughly 25p, a 20 minute taxi journey costs less than £3, street food can come in at as low as 80p for a big pot of Chongqing noodles, a bottle of local beer will set you back around £1, a return ticket on a 90-minute high-speed train to Chengdu is around £30, and direct flights from London go three times a week for as little as £400 return (hint, hint).

4. Pollution is a real thing

Air quality in China can get really ropey in the winter as coal is burned on a national scale to provide heating. Levels in Chongqing have reached around 200 on the Air Quality Index (AQI) since we’ve been here, a sharp difference compared to London’s average of 1..! Some days this pollution mixes with Chongqing’s infamous fog and causes a misty haze so thick that you can’t see the skyscrapers in front of you. Those are the days to stay in and put the air purifier on full, but most of the time you wouldn’t notice any difference, even if the AQI is high. Best to keep a mask on you though, just in case.

5. Assume all the food is spicy and all the drinks are warm

Chinese people believe that drinking cold drinks in cold weather is bad for your health, so it is safest to assume that whatever you order to drink will be warm, and some units in shops are even heated to buy warm bottled drinks. Cups of water, cartons of orange juice… the other day I was even asked if I wanted my milkshake hot or cold (I went for cold, in case you’re wondering)! Hot water is considered good for you and is consumed all year round, even in the summer’s 40 degree heat. Can’t wait for that.

China’s Sichuan province is known for its delicious and spicy cuisine and Chongqing’s food is no exception. Its famous noodles come in a bath of chillis, peppercorns and spicy broth, and everything tends to be spicy as standard - although it is a different kind of spicy to what we experience in the UK. We got savoury pancakes the other day and there was a layer of CQ special chilli sauce, just because. And if you bite into a Sichuan peppercorn by accident, you’ll know about it when your tongue goes numb. Local people often accompany their food with drinking yoghurt to calm the sizzle. The must-try dish if you visit is Chongqing Hotpot, in one of the city's 30,000+ dedicated hotpot restaurants. Meats and vegetables are cooked in a spicy broth in the centre of the table and shared among groups of friends - it's a very social meal (but also very oily so we recommend eating in moderation...).

There is also some navigating to do around mystery meat. You can’t assume that ‘chicken’ means chicken breast, thigh or wing, and more often than not something will come accompanied by intestine. It’s also very difficult to be vegetarian, as even dishes that don’t say they include meat in the menu will have bits of pork or beef in. God forbid you be vegan - one of my friends ordered vegan noodles the other day and it was full of pork. They just have no idea what it means.

6. You can do literally anything on WeChat

Book flights, pay for your street food, organise a cleaner, buy theatre tickets, get takeaway, top up your mobile phone, pay your bills, see how much money you have left in your bank account… oh and talk to your friends (in any language - it even translates for you). Everything is integrated in this app and we will often go out with only our phones (and external battery packs, of course). Even the smallest food vendor selling you a single bag of fruit will let you/expect you to pay on WeChat.

7. It’s not always easy to get around the Great Firewall of China

Unless you’re armed with a VPN (advised), then you won’t be able to get on any of the usual websites that you can get in the rest of the world. Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, BBC News, Whatsapp… they’re all blocked and often have local Chinese equivalents. VPNs can be hit and miss and can slow down an already laggy Chinese internet network, but once you find one that works, you can surf, browse and upload pics as you’re used to. It’s worth getting to grips with Chinese apps too, as they can make your life a dream - behemoth Taobao is their Amazon equivalent - complete with the ability to search using photos, Didi is their Uber, Meituan is their Deliveroo/Ocado, WeChat is their Whatsapp, Weibo is Facebook/Twitter, Baidu is Google. Note to self: learn how to read Chinese - tiny pictures will only get you so far.

8. Chongqing locals aren’t used to foreigners and don’t speak a word of English

… and for those of us trying to figure out how to use the four tones of Mandarin (or ‘Putonghua’), they barely speak a word of that either. Each Chinese region has its own local dialect and ‘Chongqinghua’ is fast-paced and as difficult to deciper as they come. Whilst CQ is the biggest city in China and one of the biggest cities in the world*, it is not that well-known on the international stage and is mostly a tourist destination for domestic visitors, meaning that as someone who isn’t Chinese, you get stared at a lot. We’ve started waving at people who forget that car and bus windows are transparent, and because people are staring because they are curious, this seems to go down well and they wave back. Largely they won’t speak or understand English , but every now and again someone will know “hello” and they will share that with you by shouting it at you in the street. You just have to say “hello” back. You might be their first foreign interaction!

This might lead you to think that Chongqing is some terrifyingly alien city where nobody will understand you and you’ll be overwhelmed by Chinese characters and Chongqinghua. And while to some extent that’s true, you’ll be comforted to know that most important signs are in English as well as in Chinese, so navigating the underground and most restaurants is pretty simple. And if all else fails, there are translation apps such as Microsoft Translate which let you translate conversations as you have them, as well as translating photos of Chinese writing. Hit and miss, but you get the gist if you’re about to order intestines…

People in CQ also have a much slower pace of life compared to London and other more international Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, and this is reflected in their pace of walking. I feel like I'm sprinting around the city compared to the locals, and have consciously tried to slow down on a number of occasions, but I'm just not there yet. Speed up, people! Oh, and people really do sit in the street around little tables playing cards and Mahjong. Note to self: learn how to play Mahjong.

*depends on how you divide it up - roughly 35 million people in the municipality, roughly 9 million in the main cosmopolitan area.

Is there anything specific you want to know about the city, life in China, or anything else? Leave us a comment and we’ll keep you updated as we shake off our Chongqing training wheels.